When Nazi Germany began bearing down on Europe in the late 
1930s, Herman Bodson was a student intellectual and pacifist at 
the University of Brussels. As the reality of eventual invasion sank 
into his soul, however, his passion for freedom overcame his 
pacifism, and with a group of friends he entered the resistance and 
five years of dangerous work as, in his words, "a fighter and a 
killer."

    With his background in chemistry, Bodson became an expert in 
explosives and sabotage, leading a group of fighters that blew up 
military trains and installations (including a bridge whose 
destruction killed some six hundred German soldiers), cut German 
communication lines, and rescued downed American fliers. He 
also served as an aide to an American military doctor during the 
Battle of the Bulge.
 
    Bodson concludes his account of freedom fighting by telling of 
his role in bringing traitors to justice at war’s end. This story of the 
Belgian underground provides insight into the intellectual and 
emotional responses that have led to the birth of such movements 
in many nations.

_________________________________________________________

HERMAN BODSON was born in Brussels. Now retired from Lake 
Erie College in Painesville, Ohio, he lives in Taos, New Mexico.


Number Thirty-five: Texas A&M University Military History 
Series